Singing in his second tongue

Sergio Muñoz OSVALDO PADILLA / FLORIDA WEEKLY “I get that a lot,” said Sergio Muñoz in perfect English with just a hint of Mexican lilt. People he meets are usually astounded to find out that he came to Lee County as a teenager without the ability to speak English. Today, the 25-year-old is a lyricist and lead singer for the band Cadence Wednesday and an Emmy Award-winning videographer. He weaves stories, bares his soul and conjures emotions for his audiences all in his second tongue.

“My first year and a half was pretty rough,” he recalls riding the bus as a sophomore at Cypress Lake High School in the late 1990s. “Kids wouldn’t let me sit on the bus, they wouldn’t move their backpacks.” A bit naive and a little optimistic, he didn’t attribute the harsh treatment to the tan tone of his skin. “It might have had something to do with it,” he said. Primarily, he faults his own inability at the time to articulate his thoughts. “I think it had something to do with being shy. I guess I was afraid to say something. If it happened now, I’d be, ‘Yo, what’s up man?’”

He enrolled in mandatory ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses and soon began to get involved in Cypress Lake’s renowned video production program. As a student, he created the Cultural Connections program, which translated the school’s newscasts into Spanish. By the time Mr. Muñoz graduated, he was fluent in English and immediately found work at local TV stations.

He is a videographer and editor at Dreamtime Entertainment in Cape Coral, responsible for putting together the “Health Matters” news segments that appear on NBC-2.

“I really love lighting. People don’t know how much light has the ability to create a whole feel in certain scenes,” he said.

Prior to his work at Dreamtime, Mr. Muñoz was working as a videographer at WINK-TV when he was tapped to work on a sociological experiment/news story that would garner him and the station an Emmy Award.

“It was called ‘Witness Test.’ We set up hidden cameras at a local restaurant and we sent in one producer to be a purse-snatcher and another one to be a victim. We asked people if they would go to the sheriff’s office and describe the guy and we took them to a sketch artist,” he said. The controversial report competed against work from major markets such as Miami and Tampa.

Mr. Muñoz paid out of his own pocket to attend the award ceremony in Orlando and found himself standing alone at the podium when he and his team unexpectedly won the familiar winged trophy.

“Being in a band, I’m pretty used to being in front of crowds, but that was nerve-wracking,” he said.

Mr. Muñoz developed his love for music and TV as a kid, joining his father as he toured Mexico with his band. They would perform at TV stations and young Sergio would hang out behind the cameras, ogling the machinery, curious to learn more about it. As a spectator and sometimes participant in TV performances and live shows throughout Tampico and Monterrey, Mr. Muñoz learned how to play. He also came to crave the energy one picks up from connecting with an audience.

His band, Cadence Wednesday, is currently producing its second album, “Evolve.” The band’s business strategy is simple, have fun and continue playing in the hopes that the right person hears and wants to sign them to a label.

“It’s tough because everyone in the band works. A lot of gigs are packages where you have to do five cities with five different bands,” he said. “We have to cut down how much we play, so this year we’re just sticking to the places where we really have fun,” said Mr. Muñoz.

After a break of several months, Cadence Wednesday will start playing local gigs again this fall, appearing at venues like Icabod’s and City Tavern. They’re also taking advantage of the Internet, making their songs available for sale on iTunes and showcasing their videos on MySpace (myspace.com/ cadencewednesday), where many young bands are discovered these days.

Despite Mr. Muñoz’s Chicano roots, the band’s musical influences originate more from the ‘90’s Seattle Pearl Jam grunge and California rock like Incubus He writes, sings and pours out his feelings before audiences in English. He is an engaging presence on the stage, almost unrecognizable from the tightlipped sophomore being denied a seat on the school bus. 